Infrastructure – Getting Needed Attention?

The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have announced a partnership to mobilize the grass roots to address the drinking water and clean water (wastewater) infrastructure needs.  Named Water Is Your Business, the initiative will promote the understanding that our vitality is dependent upon a strong water and wastewater infrastructure - that these comprise the circulatory system of our nation.

They have launched a new website:  http://waterisyourbusiness.org/ to explain the cost, need and opportunities of rehabilitating our infrastructure.  This website points to a needed investment of  over $600 billion needed over the next 20 years.  A breakdown between drinking water and clean water (wastewater treatment) is not provided, nor is there a breakdown between capital improvements and O&M investment, but it appears that these numbers likely include both.

These numbers are consistent with estimates from other sources.  Back in 2002, the EPA estimated a for over $533 billion in investment (2001 dollars) to close a funding gap for both drinking water and clean water capital and O&M needs over the next 20 years.   Ten years of that 20 year period is already past, and as we all know, little has been to address this gap.  It is therefore not surprising that the gap has now grown to over $600 billion.

Water is Your Business also makes the point that RIGHT NOW, we are losing over a trillion gallons of drinking water a year to leaks at a cost of $2.6 billion.   What this and other websites do NOT define is the cost of leaks and inadequate treatment of wastewater.   This costs as well, in degradation of our environment, health and safety issues for our citizens and increased costs in drinking water treatment.

Get Involved - Take Action

It was in a response to President Obama's State of the Union Address, that Michael Deane, executive director of the NAWC, announced the new partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce and the Water is Your Business website initiative.  He stated that "We are pleased that the President recognizes the need for private investments and partnerships to meet our collective infrastructure challenges."  The full text of his response can be read in Water World, http://www.waterworld.com/articles/2013/02/nawc-repsonds-to-state-of-the-union.html.  While I share his enthusiasm for the President's awareness that our aging infrastructure needs attention, I note that not once did President Obama actually mention drinking water or clean water infrastructure needs.   The closest he came was a brief mention of  the need for "modern pipelines to withstand a storm", which appears to be more a reference to the stormwater infrastructure which was shown to be woefully inadequate during Hurricane Sandy.   Unfortunately this omission of direct reference to OUR vital water infrastructure underscores the fact that those needs are still out of sight, out of mind.

We KNOW how important our industry is to the health and welfare of our nation.  Our economy, our LIVES depend on water.  I have often said that when we do our jobs right, when folk turn on the tap in the morning and see clean, pure healthy water, we are actually invisible.  We need to STOP BEING INVISIBLE.  I urge everyone in the drinking water and clean water industries to get involved.  Talk to your local advocacy groups, speak at the meetings of your chamber of commerce, lend your expertise to raise the awareness of this need.  It is not only good business for you, but the life of our communities depend upon us.